ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Jeff Witzeman & The Jealous Housewives became the #1 radio played unsigned band in America back in 2001 as tracked by Gavin. Every song off the first album, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIDDLE was played on some station somewhere. The second album, OH MY GOD continued the momentum. Lee Larcheveque of WMUA picked the cover of John Lennon’s ‘Isolation,’ as the 13th best song of 2002 ahead of such notables that year as Tori Amos and Mark Knopfler.

That’s where the train came off the rails. Witzeman always had the, “If you build it, they will come,” philosophy. But after spending $125,000 for promotion, tour, players and production he ran out of money. After some bad advice and no commitment from labels, Witzeman learned the hard way that if you build it, sometimes . . . they don’t come. In 2004 he declared bankruptcy and sunk into a deep depression. One of the executives at Warner Brothers records confidentially told him, “Your stuff is great, it’s just too . . . human. A&R guys are looking for addicts going off a cliff.”

But just when things looked bleakest, something surprising happened. Music supervisors discovered the songs and used them liberally on TV and Film. With the money accrued, a new project began in the summer of 2011.

After a long hiatus, Jeff is releasing THERE’S NO THERE THERE. Most of the album was recorded live with such heavyweights as Rami Jaffee on Hammond B3 and keys (Foo Fighters, Wallflowers), and Victor Indrizzo on drums (Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow). Tim Walker (Minibar) adds guitar and pedal steel. Herb Pedersen (sub for Earl Scruggs) joins Jeff on banjo for “Misunderstood.”

I loved this album. The album is a fantastic combination of thoughtful lyrics, meticulously crafted music and heartfelt vocals. Its another in a long line of very personal singer-songwriter ruminations on life.